Photo by Jamie Owen of Dexter Jack Photography
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Who Is Mega Ran?
“There isn’t a better example of (video games and hip-hop) beautifully co-existing in one person than emcee Raheem Jarbo, a.k.a. Mega Ran.””
“When it comes to marrying video games and hip-hop...no one does it quite like Mega Ran.”
“One of the most prolific and innovative rappers of the 21st Century”
“Ran writes songs that are easy to embrace, thanks to his unrelenting charm”
Random, aka Mega Ran, aka RandomBeats... Teacher, Rapper, Hero. DJ, Author…GRAMMY Nominee and Guinness World Record Holder!
In 2007 the album “Mega Ran” was officially licensed by Capcom, making it the first time an indie rapper had partnered with a AAA game developer. Ran followed that up in 2009 with “Splash Woman,” an instant smash in nerdy circles. The next year would see Mega Ran team with K-Murdock to release the classic album “Forever Famicom.” The album took Ran and K to the US, the UK and Japan on tours.
In 2011 Mega Ran released “Black Materia,” based on the hit game "Final Fantasy VII” and the results were stunning; the album went viral and propelled Ran to leave his teaching job and create music on a full-time basis.
In 2012 Mega Ran experience viral fame when Jeremy Lin Rap hit over one million views in a month and the song featured in USA TODAY and on ESPN programming.
In 2015 Mega Ran’s album RNDM released, his first Billboard-charting release. The album hit college radio charts, outpacing notable releases by Run The Jewels and Dr. Dre.
In 2018 Mega Ran was the recipient of a Guinness World Record for “most songs to reference a single video game franchise” (130)
In 2019, Mega Ran partnered with RING OF HONOR WRESTLING to write a theme song for their SuperCard of Honor event in New York and performed the track “Going To The Garden” in a sold-out Madison Square Garden.
In 2020, Ran featured on The Real Folk Blues COVID-19 relief cover with Yoko Kanno, the SEATBELTS, Mason Lieberman, Substantial and 40 other artists for an official Cowboy Bebop charity track in collaboration with FUNIMATION and Sunrise which reached #6 on Billboard for "World Digital Sales".
In 2021 Ran added “author” to his long list of titles when he released “Dream Master,” a memoir chronicling his quest. He also released Live 95, an album that debuted at #6 on Billboard Rap Albums Chart.
In 2022 Mega Ran and wife began foster parenting, leading to adopting a child, which inspired a shift in his musical direction toward family music.
2023’s Buddy’s Magic Toy Box established Ran as a “kindie” artist, creating family friendly hip-hop music. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard Kids Music Charts.
in 2024 Mega Ran released Buddy’s Magic Remixes, a collection of leftovers and remixes from Toy Box. The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard Kids Music Charts.
in 2025 Mega Ran released Buddy’s Magic Tree House, a new original family music album. The album debuted at #1 on iTunes and went on to be nominated for a GRAMMY® Award for Best Children’s Album at the 68th Annual GRAMMY® Awards.
When LA Weekly said that Mega Ran’s “fanbase and niche audiences are growing at a rate not seen since Tech N9ne,” they meant it. A former middle school teacher, Mega Ran (formerly Random) blends education, hip-hop and gaming in amazing new ways, penetrating the farthest reaches of the galaxy with his unique rhyme style and electric performances.
Ran cut his teeth in the city of Philadelphia as a moonlighting emcee and producer, performing, freestyle rapping, producing and later engineering at a studio. After relocating to Phoenix, competing in the Scribble Jam emcee battle championships and taking an early exit, Ran almost quit before he was even started, when a creative lightning bolt struck, and a fire was lit.
Video games, comic books and pop culture, all such huge factors in Ran’s upbringing, would begin to seep their way into his musical output, and the results were stunning.
Mega Ran has come a long way from his teenage days of freestyle rapping with friends, Philadelphia open mics and producing beats on a Playstation one with MTV Music Generator. He worked in studios in Philly then dropped his first album, The Call (2006), under the name Random Beats.
He moved to Phoenix and dug back into his video game roots, particularly Mega Man by Capcom, who’s soundtrack lived inside his head. He released Mega Ran (2007) with all beats produced from Mega Man games, and it was a hit. Capcom found the record and gave him a platform, and was instrumental in him being the first rapper to play Comic Con. He became so associated with the record that he changed his name to Mega Ran. He shifted the musical content he was creating primarily to gaming, which led to his Guiness Book of World Records entry for most songs that reference a video game.
Releases like Mega Ran 9 (2009), Forever Famicom (2010) and his Final Fantasy 7 record Black Materia (2011) brought press attention for combining hip hop and gaming. He quit his job and cut his teeth playing mostly sold-out shows on a 50-date tour with MC Chris at the height of his nerdcore fame. He released an abundance of singles and records including RNDM (2015) featuring Open Mike Eagle and Kool Keith, wrestling heavy albums Mat Mania (2016), Mat Mania: The Revenge (2017) & Wrestling is Real, People are Fake (2023) which lead to WWE song placements and a Ring of Honor Wrestling (ROH) live performance where he actually wrestled. Live ‘95 (2021) focused on his love of ‘90s basketball and features Del the Funky Homosapien, CZARFACE, Mickey Factz and more.
Over the pandemic Mega Ran lost a parent and began to reevaluate his life. He sat down and wrote his book Dream Master: A Memoir: From The Stoop to the Stage To The Stars (2020), chronicling his rise from obscurity to Guinness World Record holder.
In 2022, Mega Ran’s world was flipped upside down when the former teacher turned rapper and decided with his wife to enter into the unpredictable world of foster parenting. This crash course into parenting completely changed Mega Ran’s approach to making music, leading him to work on the album “Buddy’s Magic Toy Box,” which debuted on Billboard as the #2 Kids Music album in the US, behind Marvel/Sony’s soundtrack to the cultural phenomenon that is “Spider Man: Across The Spider-Verse”
After the album’s release, Mega Ran’s transformation into a children's music artist seemed destined. It was seamless. Ran began playing shows at museums, parks and libraries; with the latter inspiring his latest hit “The Library Jawn,” which has fast become an anthem for reading advocates worldwide.
“Buddy’s Magic Tree House,” released in June 2025, features several GRAMMY-winning talents and continues to perform well, as Ran travels the galaxy spreading the word of working hard, and playing even harder.
Today, Mega Ran is no longer a teacher by title, but maintains a rigorous touring and recording schedule, traveling the world playing rap shows, DJing and striving to entertain and educate at the same time.
